Sarah Marshall (American stage actress)
Sarah Marshall (born 1955) is a stage actress working primarily in the Washington, D.C. region. She has been nominated for the Helen Hayes Award seventeen times and won the award in 1989.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Marshall was born in Kansas, the fifth of eight children in a Catholic military family.[2] During her childhood, she lived in several places in the South.[2] Most of her family currently resides in the south.[3]
As a child, Marshall and her siblings produced plays at their home.[2] Marshall decided to become an actress in the seventh grade after winning a citywide monologue competition in Huntsville, Alabama.[2] Playing the comedic role of the maid in her middle school's production of Junior Miss led her to focus on character acting.[2] She acted throughout high school and college, graduating from Birmingham-Southern College with a degree in theater.[2]
Career beginnings[edit]
Marshall moved to Washington with the intent of attending graduate school at Catholic University or American University, but enrolled in classes at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory instead, working as a maid to support herself.[2] During the 1980s, Marshall performed in nine Studio Theatre productions, including a 1983 role as Jo, a pregnant waif in Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey, termed Marshall's "breakthrough performance" by friend and Studio Theatre Artistic Director Joy Zinoman.[2][3] She also drew attention for her roles in Studio Theatre's Miss Margarida's Way and My Sister is in This House, for which she received her first Helen Hayes nomination.[1][2]
Other productions in which she performed during that time included Briar Patch at Arena Stage; The Stick Wife at Horizons; The Vampires at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; and Baby with the Bathwater at Round House Theatre in 1989, for which she won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Resident Production.[1][2] She joined the Woolly Mammoth acting company in 1989.[2]
Recent performances[edit]
Marshall's recent productions include Dead Man's Cell Phone at Woolly Mammoth in 2007;[4] Martha, Josie and the Chinese Elvis at Woolly Mammoth[5] and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, featuring Marshall in the title role, at Studio Theatre in 2006;[6] and Camille at Round House Theatre[7] and The Clean House at Woolly Mammoth in 2005, for which she received her fourteenth Helen Hayes nomination.[1][8]
Other activities[edit]
Marshall began teaching acting at Round House Theater in 1985.[3] Since 1988, she has taught at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.[2] She is also an adjunct drama instructor at Georgetown University.[3] In her spare time, Marshall has dabbled in crafts such as drawing, metal work and pottery.[3]
Helen Hayes Awards[edit]
| 1985 | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Production | |
| My Sister in This House, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 1989 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Production | |
| Baby With the Bathwater, Round House Theatre | Award Recipient | |
| 1990 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Production | |
| Dead Monkey, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination | |
| 1990 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Production | |
| Briar Patch, Arena Stage | Nomination | |
| 1992 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Production | |
| When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 1993 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Elektra, Round House Theatre | Nomination | |
| 1994 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Criminals in Love, Round House Theatre | Nomination | |
| 1996 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical | |
| Wanted, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination | |
| 1996 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Escape from Happiness, Round House Theatre | Nomination | |
| 1998 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Sylvia, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2000 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Dead Monkey, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination | |
| 2000 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| How I Learned to Drive, Arena Stage | Nomination | |
| 2001 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| Betty's Summer Vacation, The Studio Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2006 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| The Clean House, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination | |
| 2008 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| As You Like It, Folger Theatre | Nomination | |
| 2009 | Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | |
| Boom, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination (award not yet announced) | |
| 2009 | Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | |
| Maria/Stuart, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Nomination (award not yet announced) |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Helen Hayes Awards
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Richards, David. "Sarah Marshall, From Myth to 'Monkey'; The Wooley Mammoth Actress and Her Rise from Character to Star." The Washington Post, 1990-01-14, p. G1.
- ^ a b c d e Davis, Daryl. "Miss Marshall's Ways." Washington Theater Review, summer 2005, p. 44-49.
- ^ Marks, Peter. "'Dead Man's Cell Phone,' Answering Some Biggies." The Washington Post, 2007-06-18, p. C1.
- ^ Marks, Peter. "Mixed Nuts, All Shook Up; 'Chinese Elvis' a Lively Comedy of Canned Laughs." The Washington Post, 2006-11-14, p. C1.
- ^ Marks, Peter. "Studio's 'Jean Brodie': Niceness Doesn't Count." The Washington Post, 2006-03-14, p. C5.
- ^ Marks, Peter. "Robinson Bows In With a Powerful 'Camille'." The Washington Post, 2005-09-21, p. C12.
- ^ Marks, Peter. "'Clean House': A Lemon-Fresh Shine." The Washington Post, 2005-07-19, p. C1.